Super Bones

Super Bones is formulated to complement a diet with reasonable Calcium:Phosphorus ratios but may be short on total amounts fed. It also includes the next most abundant bone mineral, Magnesium, as well as vitamins A and D. Vitamin D is well known as the vitamin that regulates Calcium and Phosphorus balance. Vitamin A is needed for optimal activity of osteoblasts, the cells that build bone. In a very palatable base.

Super Bones is useful for adults on diets that lack sufficient Calcium, Phosphorus, and Magnesium and for supplementing pregnant or lactating mares, weanlings and yearlings that also have significantly increased requirements.

From minis to drafts to the next Kentucky Derby winner, bone development is critical to future health and performance. Everyone knows Calcium and Phosphorus are the two most important minerals for bone development but you may not appreciate how easy it can be to short change your young stock.

For example, a 6 month old weanling requires about twice as many calories/lb of body weight as an adult horse every day but 4.5 times more Calcium and Phosphorus. Obviously if you are feeding your weanlings the same diet as your adult horses, they are not getting what they need.

To illustrate this another way, the weanling just under half adult weight needs the same amount of calories as an easy keeper adult but requires 38.6 grams of Calcium versus 20 for the easy keeper adult (based on adult weight of 500kg). If you feed the adult diet to the weanling, you can meet calorie needs but not minerals. A yearling requires 12% more calories than he will at maintenance at his adult weight, but 89% more Calcium.

Even feeding a top line, brand name mare and foal supplemented feed does not guarantee your youngster's needs are being met. To complicate things further, high grain and/or fat feeding can interfere with absorption or retention of minerals that are key to bone formation. By tying your young horse's minerals to intake of a high calorie grain it is also difficult to maintain normal weight without sacrificing mineral intake. This predisposes to physitis, OCD and other developmental bone disorders.